Tackling Post Disaster Challenges

Among the greatest challenges facing a disaster-impacted community or region is accessing the necessary fuel to resupply generators and provide gasoline for service vehicles, utility trucks and the personal vehicles of critical personnel.

Power generation service companies face their own challenges including difficulty accessing restricted areas if they haven’t made advance arrangements with law enforcement or secured required credentials. Extended power outages are a major challenge, forcing healthcare facilities to operate generators for many hours which depletes limited fuel supplies and increases the risk of mechanical failures. When mechanical failures do occur, this often triggers a surge in demand for generator service personnel that service companies are sometimes unable to meet.

Another post disaster challenge is that independent generator service companies not affiliated with any one generator manufacturer are often prevented from performing maintenance on these generators. A key question related to these restrictions is the ability of these generators to be serviced by their manufacturers’ service technicians who will likely be stretched very thin following a disaster.

Powered for Patients will continue to address these challenges through its work on multiple fronts.